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White Sox Sign Micker Adolfo Zapata

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The White Sox signed outfielder Micker Adolfo Zapata for $1.6MM, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America.  Zapata is a 16-year-old right-handed hitter who was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands and trained in the Dominican Republic for the last few years.  BA ranked him ninth, while MLB.com had him second.  The White Sox confirmed the deal, a franchise record for an international signing.

Zapata "has the best raw power in Latin America," wrote Badler, as well as an above-average arm and bat speed.  Badler noted that the White Sox were pushing hard to sign him.  The Sox have a bonus pool of $2,168,300.

Agent Dispute: Beverly Hills Takes On Lozano

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Beverly Hills Sports Council is seeking $40MM in damages from former partner Dan Lozano, according to Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal (subscription required).  Lozano left BHSC in 2010 to form MVP Sports Group, taking many prominent players with him including Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, Jimmy Rollins, Michael Young, and Brian Wilson.  Mullen notes that MLBPA rules say agents must resolve disputes under a confidential arbitration process, and this case will be heard starting October 28th.  Lozano filed counterclaims against BHSC partners Jeff Borris, Dan Horwits, and Rick Thurman.

Mullen's sources say BHSC claims Lozano violated a partnership agreement upon leaving.  As Mullen notes, Lozano has done huge contracts for Pujols and Votto since his departure.

Rangers Sign Yrizarri, Almonte

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9:11am: The Rangers acquired pool money from the Marlins, tweets Soldevila.  The Marlins have the sixth-largest pool at $3,395,200, and were expected to be willing to part with some of it.  The Rangers can acquire up to half of their pool amount, which comes to $971,350, but they have to do it by acquiring slot values.  If the Rangers went less than 5% over their pool they'll be subject to a 75% tax on the overage; the penalties increase from there.

8:32am: The Rangers signed shortstop Yeyson Yrizarri for $1.35MM, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America.  The 16-year-old was born in Venezuela and raised in the Dominican Republic.  BA ranks him seventh, while MLB.com has him 23rd.  The Rangers also signed Dominican outfielder Jose Almonte for $1.8MM, tweets Dionisio Soldevila of ESPN Deportes.  Badler kept Almonte outside of his top 30, noting that he "has been the subject of rumors regarding his potential bonus that seem to wildly outstrip his value as a solid but not premium prospect."  MLB.com ranked him 13th.

BA notes Yrizarri is a nephew of former big leaguer Deivi Cruz.  His stock rose quickly in recent weeks; Yrizarri has "gap power for now" and may wind up an above-average defender at second or third base.  MLB.com has much praise for Almonte's bat, while Badler is more skeptical.  

The Rangers have $1,942,700 in bonus pool money, so they're $235,950 over their amount with these two signings even if they acquire the maximum of $971,350.  We'll await further details on the financial situation and keep you updated.

Amaro On Taking On Salary In Trades

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Based on comments Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. made to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer, it appears the team would not be inclined to take on money in the unlikely event they trade expensive pitchers Cliff Lee or Jonathan Papelbon.  Asked about eating money to ensure the highest return in a trade, Amaro said:

"That's usually the case with most deals in this era.  In the cases of the players rumored out there, like the Lees and Papelbons, taking back money is not going to be an issue because the talent is too high. That's not going to be debilitating for anybody. The teams who would be interested would be willing to take on the dollars associated with it. Particularly in those deals – I don't anticipate doing those – but it's about making baseball deals, not monetary deals. I haven't been mandated to go and shed payroll. I've never had that mandate."

Lee will be owed over $70MM through 2015 at the trade deadline, while Papelbon will have over $30MM through 2015 remaining (more if his 2016 option vests).  Having dropped their last two contests, the Phillies sit at 9.5 games out in the NL East and eight back in the wild card.  As Gelb explains, the team can afford to wait until the end of the month.

Minor Moves: Bonser, Perry, LeBlanc, Seaton

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Today's minor moves…

  • Right-hander Boof Bonser has been released by the Giants, tweets Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. The 31-year-old made his way back to the Giants organization in 2012. Bonser was selected with the 21st overall pick in the 2000 draft and traded to the Twins along with Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano for A.J. Pierzynski in 2003. He ultimately made 60 starts for the Twins and slotted into their postseason rotation in 2006 after a solid rookie campaign.
  • The Nationals have outrighted Double-A right-hander Ryan Perry from their 40-man roster, the team announced on Twitter. The move opens up a 40-man roster spot for Taylor Jordan, who will step into the rotation in lieu of the injured Dan Haren. Perry, a former first-round pick of the Tigers, has an unsightly 8.52 ERA in 43 1/3 innings between Triple-A and Double-A this season.
  • The Astros announced yesterday they've outrighted pitchers Wade LeBlanc and Ross Seaton to the minors.  LeBlanc, 28, had joined the organization from the Marlins in a waiver claim earlier this month.  The soft-tossing southpaw has a 5.50 ERA, 5.5 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, 1.20 HR/9, and 38.3% groundball rate in 52 1/3 innings this year, including seven starts.  
  • Seaton, 23, was drafted out of high school in the third round in 2008 under previous Astros GM Ed Wade and signed to an above-slot deal.  Seaton hasn't reached the Majors, but others chosen in that round before him include Craig Kimbrel, Danny Espinosa, and Vance Worley.  Seaton was ranked by Baseball America as the Astros' third-best prospect after he was drafted, and even before this season was ranked 21st.  Before this season, BA downgraded their assessment to say that Seaton "profiles as a back-of-the-rotation innings-eater."  Having grown up in the Houston area, Seaton was excited to have been added to the Astros' 40-man roster in November, but he's lost that spot after 55 innings in 2013.
  • Three players currently reside in DFA limbo: Francisley Bueno of the Royals, Carlos Marmol of the Cubs and Eric Thames of the Mariners.

Ricky Nolasco Rumors: Thursday

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Significant trades remain rare in June, but the Marlins' Ricky Nolasco has four days left to join a club that has added Kevin Youkilis, Mark Ellis, Joel Hanrahan, Sean Burnett, Mark DeRosa, Chris Perez, Nate McLouth, Jeff Locke, and Charlie Morton in recent years.  Dodgers GM Ned Colletti told Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio and ESPN today that there have been far more serious trade discussions five weeks from the deadline than he can ever recall, and you have to wonder if Colletti is thinking of his own discussions for Nolasco while making that comment.  The entire NL West plus the Orioles have been linked to the 30-year-old righty, who is scheduled to face the Padres tomorrow night.  Nolasco has about $6MM left on his contract, which will certainly be part of the trade negotiations.  The latest:

  • Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports report that the Marlins are seeking a "good" prospect as well as the full $6MM of salary relief in exchange for Nolasco. The financial implications of those demands have pushed the Rockies out of the running. The Dodgers are the front-runners, according to one executive, though the Giants and Padres are still involved in talks. The Orioles are "less confident" in their chances, and the Rangers "loom as a possibility," according to the FOX duo.
  • The Dodgers are likely to pay more of Nolasco's salary if it means saving a prospect, tweets Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles. The Dodgers are pleased with the current direction of their minor league system.
  • ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the Dodgers and Marlins have indeed made progress in talks for Nolasco. One source tells Olney that there's a 70 percent chance the deal gets done.
  • The Marlins and Dodgers are indeed in talks about Nolasco, hears Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
  • As a Southern California native, Nolasco would naturally prefer to pitch on the West Coast, notes MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.  The interest from the NL West bodes well for that goal, though the Red Sox scouted Nolasco's last start, writes Frisaro.  Nolasco's opinion on being a walking trade rumor?  "Whatever happens, happens," he told Frisaro.
  • What might it take to acquire Nolasco?  Bowden offers proposals for each NL West team in this ESPN article. 

Draft Signings: Jones, Eades, Overton

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Today's notable draft signings…

  • The Pirates signed third round pick JaCoby Jones for $612K, tweets Jim Callis of Baseball America.  That's exactly slot for the Boras Corporation advisee.  A speedy second baseman out of Louisiana State, BA ranked Jones as the 75th best draft prospect and noted that he's said to prefer the outfield.
  • The Twins signed second round draft pick Ryan Eades, tweets director of baseball communications and player relations Dustin Morse.  Eades received the slotted amount of $1,294,100, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America.  Eades, a righty out of Louisiana State, ranked 37th on the Baseball America 500.  He's advised by the Boras Corporation.  The Twins have two unsigned picks from the first ten rounds: Indiana righty Aaron Slegers from the fifth round, and his teammate Dustin DeMuth from the eighth.
  • The Athletics agreed to terms with second-round draft pick Dillon Overton yesterday, reported the Associated Press.  The Oklahoma lefty, chosen 63rd overall, signed for $400K according to Jim Callis of Baseball America.  That's well under the slot value of $885,600 for the Jonathan Gray teammate, which makes sense given the report from Yahoo's Jeff Passan that Overton will have Tommy John surgery within the next two weeks.  Overton is advised by The Legacy Agency.  With the signing, the A's have inked their top 13 picks according to BA.  They had a bonus pool of $6,036,800 for the top ten, and spent 93% of it at $5,619,100.  Savings on Overton and going cheap on their ninth and tenth-round picks enabled the A's to go over slot on fifth rounder Bobby Wahl and seventh rounder Dustin Driver.
  • Seven first-round draft picks remain unsigned in advance of the July 12th deadline: Kris Bryant of the Cubs, Colin Moran of the Marlins, Austin Meadows of the Pirates, Phil Bickford of the Blue Jays, Hunter Renfroe of the Padres, Ryne Stanek of the Rays, and Aaron Judge of the Yankees.  The Marlins hope to have a deal worked out with Moran "sooner rather than later," a source with knowledge of the negotiations tells Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.

The initial version of this post said that JaCoby Jones signed for under slot; our apologies for the error.

Phillies Acquire John McDonald

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The Phillies acquired infielder John McDonald from the Indians today for a player to be named later or cash considerations, announced the team.  McDonald is expected to join the Phillies tomorrow in Los Angeles, at which point they'll make a corresponding 25-man roster move.  The Phils cleared a 40-man spot by outrighting catcher Steven Lerud.

Johnny Mac, 38, joined the Pirates in a March trade with the Diamondbacks and was traded to Cleveland on June 10th.  The Indians designated McDonald for assignment yesterday to make room for Asdrubal Cabrera.  The veteran is known for his glovework; he's played shortstop, second base, and third base this year.

Latest On Corey Hart

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THURSDAY: Hart is likely to miss the rest of the season, sources tell Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.  "We don't know yet," said Brewers GM Doug Melvin.

TUESDAY: There was a time when Brewers first baseman/right fielder Corey Hart looked like an extension candidate, or at least a trade candidate, but those ideas might be out the window due to a delayed recovery from January knee surgery.  As Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel explains, Hart once talked about a May season debut, but he suffered setbacks in recent workouts and still isn't close to a minor league rehab assignment.  There's no talk of a timetable; a mid-July return after the All-Star break appears unlikely.  Adds Haudricourt, "At this point, it's not completely out of the question that he will miss the entire season, though nobody is ready to say that yet."

The Brewers are clearly defined sellers this summer, and Hart could have been a primary asset since he's in his contract year and offers good power.  But Hart won't be traded by the July 31st deadline, and the idea of moving him in August is speculation at best.  He's earning $10MM and can block deals to 15 teams.

The Brewers weren't interested in extending Hart prior to the injury, he explained to Haudricourt, saying, "They weren't really open to talks beforehand so it's not like me having a bad knee affected it."  Hart, who will play next season at age 32, averaged 29 home runs per year from 2010-12.  Given the seriousness of his knee injury, Hart seems a candidate for a one-year free agent deal in the offseason.

Mets Notes: Parnell, Ricco

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At 11.5 games out in the NL East, the Mets are among the game's clear sellers here in late June.  The latest on the team:

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